Infrastructure (Public Works)

News about Infrastructure (Public Works), including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 4, 2015

Addis Ababa Journal; Ethiopia, once mired in poverty and hunger, is changing, with average economic growth exceeding 10 percent for over decade; government ambitiously aims to make nation a middle-income country by 2025; series of infrastructure projects is underway, with major construction in capital of Addis Ababa. MORE

Mar. 4, 2015

Japanese utilities warn current infrastructure cannot accommodate explosion of solar power production encouraged by new government policies, with some utilities cutting contracts with local solar installations; argue they cannot invest in new facilities without further government commitment to clean energy sources; faltering market threatens Japan's overall goal of using solar to replace output lost output by Fukushima disaster. MORE

Feb. 6, 2015

Tappan Zee Bridge, which crosses Hudson River between South Nyack and Tarrytown, NY, appears on cover of Pres Obama's 2016 budget; bridge, which is being replaced, has come to represent federal investment in infrastructure. MORE

Feb. 5, 2015

Nation's locks are deteriorating, slowing barges on rivers and delaying commerce; United States Army Corp of Engineers, whose budget Pres Obama wants to cut, says it needs $13 billion to fix decrepit locks through 2020; 70-year-lock near Paducah, Ky, will be replaced, but not until at least 2023. MORE

Feb. 3, 2015

Pres Obama's proposed budget contains six-year, $478 billion infrastructure plan, giving 33 percent increase in funding for large, new public works projects; upgrading nation's roads, bridges and ports would be financed by new taxes on American companies' international profits. MORE

Jan. 15, 2015

Editorial contends extra $5 billion New York State's treasury is flush should be spent on focused, one-shot investments rather than tax cuts or lawmakers' pet projects; suggests several ideas, like improved drinking-water facilities, transfusion to Metropolitan Transportation Authority's deficit, roads and bridges, efforts that will benefit all state residents. MORE

Jan. 13, 2015

China is forging ahead with large number of ambitious, multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects despite doubts about country's economy; plans include what will be world's longest underwater tunnel, biggest airport, largest bridge and longest gas pipeline; effort is in line with tradition of enormous public works in China, including Great Wall and Three Gorges Dam. MORE

Jan. 11, 2015

Editorial calls on Congress to raise gasoline and diesel fuel tax in order to fund much needed repairs for nation's transit infrastructure and to promote better fuel efficiency; notes that low gas prices make it much easier for politicians to raise the tax; warns that Highway Trust Fund is severely underfunded, and modest 15 cent per gallon increase in taxes would be sufficient. MORE

Jan. 2, 2015

Local and state governments nationwide, for first time since 2011, are spending on suspended projects, increasing prosperity; federal spending is also rising in some sectors; Naples, Fla, spent money to help pelicans trapped in fishing lines, in symbol of rising affluence; political pressure to cut spending has eased as federal deficit has dropped sharply; some economists say infrastructure spending and other capital investments will spur economy. MORE

Dec. 30, 2014

Political Memo; bipartisan economists have seemingly become frustrated with persistent, generation-long stagnation of middle-class incomes; both Democrats and Republicans are considering big policy shifts that could address trend, with Democrats pushing for heavy investment in infrastructure spending and Republicans calling for overhauling energy policy and corporate tax code. MORE

Dec. 27, 2014

Experts and elected officials express concerns that falling oil prices may strongly impact local economies in many of nation's oil- and gas-producing states; projected effects include job losses, budget deficits, and freeze on infrastructure-related projects. MORE

Dec. 21, 2014

Jeff Sommer Strategies column examines advantages posed by significant drop in oil prices; observes that hard-pressed American consumers now have more spending power; questions whether government will have willpower to devote some of windfall to items with long-term benefits, like repair and redevelopment of battered infrastructure and environmental initiatives. MORE

Dec. 14, 2014

Thomas L Friedman Op-Ed column posits that fall in oil prices may impeded decisive global response to climate change; warns that the only way to prevent that from happening is if American politicians raise gasoline tax, which would have added benefit of raising funds for addressing country's crumbling infrastructure. MORE

Nov. 27, 2014

Editorial praises European Union for plan to pump up investment in public works and increase small-business lending, but warns proposal is overly complicated and self-defeating; argues that insistence on maintaining balanced budget, even as economy weakens, risks continued economic stagnation. MORE

Nov. 26, 2014

European Union will announce plan to finance $315 billion in public infrastructure projects over next three years; most of money must come from private lenders. MORE

Nov. 9, 2014

Jim Venturi, responding to New York Gov Andrew Cuomo's call for ideas to modernize New York City aiports, is pushing plan to annex Rikers Island and parts of Bronx for LaGuardia expansion; Venturi's ideas go beyond LaGuardia plan, and envision harnessing working and abandoned infrastructure throughout the boroughs to better connect entire city. MORE

Oct. 27, 2014

Paul Krugman Op-Ed column examines America's reluctance to engage in large-scale infrastructure projects despite fact that efforts have paid rich dividends throughout country's history; argues public investment continues to be acutely needed amid financial recovery; holds impasse flows from the destructive, short-term ideology of the Republican Party and its blind opposition to government spending. MORE

Oct. 25, 2014

China and 20 other countries sign memorandum agreeing to create an international development bank to offer financing for infrastructure projects in underdeveloped countries across Asia; some leading Asian countries refrain from joining the project, which the United States has been quietly lobbying against. MORE

Oct. 12, 2014

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, one of Africa's most ambitious infrastructure projects, is 32 percent complete, with financing, more than $357 million so far, coming from Ethiopians themselves; country will sell excess energy to neighboring countries, which should bring in about $1 billion in annual expert revenue starting in 2021, four years after scheduled completion date. MORE

Sep. 26, 2014

Portal Bridge in New Jersey, 100-year-old structure blamed for frequent delays on state's Northeast Corridor stretch of railroad, is in desperate need of replacement; Federal transportation officials have estimated the cost of rebuilding it at $900 million, none of which has been allocated to date. MORE

Sep. 2, 2014

Los Angeles's decaying roads, sidewalks and water system reflect challenges many American cities face after years of budget-tightening and delaying basic maintenance; city's size and reliance on automobiles has made Los Angeles symbol of nation's crumbling infrastructure problems. MORE

Sep. 2, 2014

China's Finance Minister removes 20-year ban on local and regional governments from issuing bonds; lifting of ban, along with other amendments, represents shift in approach to China's long-standing problem of how to finance infrastructure projects without allowing local and regional governments to build up unsustainable levels of debt. MORE

Aug. 4, 2014

Crumbling infrastructure in Philippines is serious drain on economy and obstacle to nation's growth; 2.2 million vehicles daily on Manila's overcrowded road system costs more than $20 billion a year in lost productivity and wasted energy; Philippine economy is one of Asia's fastest growing, upwards of $250 billion. MORE

Aug. 2, 2014

Gail Collins Op-Ed column observes that an intransigent Congress was at least able to pass a short-term fix to the imperiled Highway Trust Fund, even as it failed to act on a number of more important measures; notes that proposal was funded by dubious practice known as 'pension smoothing,' which allows companies to put less than the required amount into their pension funds on a temporary basis, raising tax revenue. MORE

Aug. 1, 2014

Jul. 31, 2014

The Upshot; Congressional Republicans and Democrats are fighting over how to get money in Federal Highway Trust Fund, which is set to run dry, and fight has boiled down to 'pension smoothing,' budgetary gimmick that only pretends to raise revenue. MORE

Jul. 18, 2014

Indian Prime Min Narendra Modi has pledged to tackle host of economic problems, improve infrastructure and improve electricity supply in long-troubled city of Varanasi; effort is seen as case study for Modi's ambition to make improvements in vast swaths of country that have lagged behind cities like Mumbai and Bangalore in development. MORE

Jul. 17, 2014

New York's Public Authorities Control Board approves $256 million loan from federal clean-water funds to New York State Thruway Authority to help finance building of a $3.9 billion twin-span replacement for Tappan Zee Bridge. MORE

Jul. 16, 2014

House easily approves short-term fix to nearly depleted federal highway trust fund, as prospects of hundreds of thousands of job losses and stalled road construction in August overwhelmed the protests of conservative groups that opposed bill; without the federal help, states were already planning to halt and delay thousands of projects. MORE

Jul. 16, 2014

Editorial argues that Congress has again dodged its responsibility to American drivers by issuing an inadequate, 10-month highway funding bill; notes that some 10,000 motorists die each year due to poor road conditions, which also cause significant logistical problems; calls on Congressional Republicans to put ideology aside and raise the gasoline tax, which has been stuck at the same level since 1993. MORE

Jul. 11, 2014

House and Senate committees draft competing plans to replenish national Highway Trust Fund before it becomes insolvent Aug 1; both plans would provide $11 billion to keep fund running until May 2015, but differences in provisions set up confrontation that could stop work on tens of thousands of infrastructure projects. MORE

Jul. 9, 2014

House Ways and Means Committee releases bipartisan plan to generate about $10 billion to keep the Highway Trust Fund from becoming insolvent on August 1; plan would also pay for critical road and bridge repair projects, in a number of states, not covered by the fund. MORE

Jul. 8, 2014

Coalition of business groups and labor unions are pushing lawmakers to approve federal infrastructure spending before transportation projects begin to dry up in August 2014; nation's Highway Trust Fund will be slashed 28 percent on Aug 1, at the height of summer construction, and the Export-Import Bank, which guarantees loans to foreign purchasers of American exports, will have to close its doors by the end of September if Congress does not take action. MORE

Jul. 4, 2014

Paul Krugman Op-Ed column warns that the federal highway trust fund is almost exhausted and that unless Congress agrees to financing, road work across the country will have to be scaled back; contends looming highway crisis illustrates how self-destructive political choice of scaling back public investment in wake of financial crisis was. MORE

Jul. 3, 2014

Nicolas Kristof Op-Ed column contends nation is at the point where it would be better paying bit more in taxes and getting better and less congested roads; asserts the anti-tax crusaders love to oppose taxation without representation, but important public investments deserve their due on July Fourth. MORE

Jul. 2, 2014

Pres Obama calls on congressional Republicans to take quick action to fund infrastructure projects throughout the country, arguing that failing to do so could mean huge layoffs for Americans this year. MORE

Jun. 27, 2014

Environmental Facilities Corporation, New York State agency that lends federal money for sewer plants and other clean-water projects, approves $511 million loan to Thruway Authority for 17 projects that are part of building of twin-span replacement for Tappan Zee Bridge across Hudson River. MORE

Jun. 27, 2014

Op-Ed article by Prof Henry Petroski argues that decline in the structural quality and craftsmanship of American homes and bridges reflects larger problem of short-term thinking in nation's infrastructure projects; contrasts sturdy nature of his 60-year-old home in Maine with newer buildings that rely on inferior materials and unskilled labor; calls on homeowners, project managers and legislatures to demand higher standards from builders and contractors. MORE

Jun. 14, 2014

Gail Collins Op-Ed column warns that Highway Trust Fund is about to run out of money, event that would lead to worker layoffs, economic stagnation and declining infrastructure; describes fictional game that both mirrors way Congress functions and could determine fate of fund. MORE

May. 15, 2014

Pres Obama, in speech in front of Tappan Zee Bridge, pressures Republicans in Congress to support his new $302 billion, four-year transportation infrastructure program; argues that unless program is passed, current transportation funding will run out later in 2014, endangering many highway, port, bridge and transit projects and jobs. MORE

Apr. 22, 2014

Barcelona is among a number of European cities adopting new forms of technology aimed at improving public services in ways that cut energy use and generate income; analysts say European cities remain a step ahead of the United States in creating efficient, so-called smart cities; push mirrors efforts in some American cities that have spent millions of dollars to upgrade infrastructure. MORE

Apr. 13, 2014

Brazil has run up against catalog of delays and cost overruns as it sprints to get ready for World Cup in June; difficulties are part of bigger national problem casting pall over country's grand ambitions, namely an array of lavish projects conceived when economic growth was surging that now stand abandoned, stalled or wildly over budget; troubled ventures are fueling accusations of waste, incompetence and corruption. MORE

Mar. 25, 2014

Editorial contends Congress can make New York City and other cities safer if it hastens effort to repair and replace old, leaking natural-gas pipelines nationwide; notes explosion in East Harlem can serve as a catalyst for change, and Congress must act before forces of apathy reassert themselves after this latest tragedy. MORE

Feb. 27, 2014

Pres Obama urges lawmakers to overhaul corporate and business taxes to pay for repairing and replacing the nation's aging roads, rails, bridges and tunnels; avoids politically treacherous solution of raising the federal gas tax, and instead offers a stopgap proposal for fixing the nation's infrastructure. MORE

Feb. 16, 2014

Exceptionally cold and snowy winter battering much of United States has forced cities and states to face new financial pressures as they begin repairing infrastructure damaged by storms; officials report increased spending on overtime, contractors and supplies, and say that repair work will be extensive and expensive. MORE

Feb. 8, 2014

Vice Pres Joseph R Biden has singled out La Guardia Airport in New York City to illustrate dire state of country's infrastructure, likening it to what one might find 'in a third world country'; while Biden's comments may strike some as harsh, many New Yorkers agree with him. MORE

Jan. 29, 2014

Eduardo Porter Economic Scene column compares Today's persistent unemployment to that in the 1930s, noting that Pres Franklin Delano Roosevelt responded in his era by instituting the New Deal; explores ways in which public infrastructure projects could help jump start employment among older and unskilled workers today. MORE

Jan. 15, 2014

Mumbai Trans Harbor Link, estimated to cost $1.5 billion, is one of numerous projects in India sorely needed to create economic growth but delayed because of seemingly intractable government red tape. MORE

Dec. 9, 2013

Japan’s much-lauded growth plan is a throwback to the country’s troubled ’90s when it tried hard to build its way back to prosperity; some economists say country's recovery has become dangerously dependent on large-scale public works spending. MORE

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